It was a memorable tournament for Ireland, who disposed of a New Zealand side who were unbeaten in the competition since 1991.

Ireland captain Fiona Coughlan says that beating the Ferns in the group stages was one of the highlights of the Tournament.

"Beating New Zealand was a high and it woke up the whole tournament and threw it wide open," she said.

"As a sportsperson you are there to win and unfortunately, particularly against France (in the 3rd/4th place playoff) when we could have won the game we didn't."

Coughlan was hugely thrilled by the support received by the team throughout the competition, and indeed by the warm welcome received at the airport.

"It's unbelievable," she said.

"We are blown away by it. We came back from the Grand Slam as winners, but I think there is even a bigger crowd now and we don't have a trophy.

"We knew all along that the support was there. The messages we were getting on social media, and everyone was saying how crazy it was back here after we beat New Zealand.

"It's brilliant and it's just brilliant for Irish sport to see the crowd turn out like this."

Coughlan announced her retirement from International Rugby in the wake of Sunday's defeat to France, and says she has been thinking about it for a while.

"It wasn't a quick decision," she said.

"I announced it to the girls during the Six Nations and they knew about it. It's a huge commitment, a major time commitment more than anything else.

"My body is fine and I could probably keep playing, but it's the time and other aspects of your life that do suffer. You are training every day, morning, evenings and nights and it's just the time commitment really."

Doyle was warmed by the strong welcome received, and support throughout.

"It is amazing and what a fantastic reception to have after a long, hard World Cup," he said.

"It was fantastic and to come home to this is amazing.

"The 16th supporter was absolutely immense the whole way through. During the first week for the America game there was a huge influx of fans and then people had to go home for work reasons, but came back.

"Another influx of people came in and all the local campsites in the area were full of Irish. It was an amazing atmosphere."

And Doyle says there is no discredit in finishing fourth, despite the ultimate goal of a World Cup title eluding this squad.

"It's not disappointing at all," he said.

"Our goal was to make the semi-finals. Along the way we beat New Zealand, the World Champions; and also had an incredibly hard game against America.

"This has to be looked upon as a huge positive for women's sport in Ireland and also obviously Rugby and hopefully with new people coming in we'll ultimately step on from here."